October 6, 2009

Hoffman earns OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors

After scoring two goals to give the Tennessee Tech soccer team a 2-1 overtime win over Eastern Kentucky, Jen Hoffman has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – After scoring two goals to give the Tennessee Tech soccer team a 2-1 overtime win over Eastern Kentucky, Jen Hoffman has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Hoffman also had one shot against Morehead State as the Golden Eagles tied MSU and went 1-0-1 in OVC play over the weekend.

Hoffman scored late in the game against Eastern Kentucky to tie the match before netting the game-winning goal in overtime. It was her third goal of the season.

Hoffman was the hands-down favorite for the award, receiving all nine first-place votes in the balloting.

“Jen has really come on strong the last couple weeks,” Tennessee Tech head coach Becky Fletcher said. “She has proven that she is not to be taken lightly, and we hope that continues.”

Hoffman, a junior, is on the field for Tech for the first time since 2006 when she led the team with six goals and was named to the OVC all-newcomer team. She left Tech during the 2007 season, and returned before the 2008 season, when she had to sit out a year due to NCAA transfer regulations.

“Jen has worked very had to get to where she is, and she has been very opportunistic,” Fletcher said.

A pair of other Golden Eagles received votes in the two other weekly award categories. Sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Thacker was the runner-up for Goalkeeper of the Week as she allowed only one goal and had 11 saves on the week while Tech went to overtime in both of its matches. Junior defender Taren Brown played all 210 minutes of action for Tech on the weekend and received votes for Defensive Player of the Week.

The Golden Eagles are preparing for Thursday’s non-conference showdown with Longwood in Cookeville at 4 p.m., before resuming OVC play on Sunday against Austin Peay at 2 p.m. Sunday’s match will be senior day, as Tech senior Brittany Rogers will be honored before the match. Admission to all Tech home soccer matches is free.